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2023 July 25   13:12

United Nations starts removal of oil from decaying tanker in Red Sea

The UN-led project to prevent a massive oil spill from the FSO Safer supertanker off Yemen’s Red Sea coast began today with the removal of more than 1 million barrels of oil from the decaying vessel.

The Safer has been at risk of breaking up or exploding for years. A major spill from the vessel would result in an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.

The oil aboard the Safer is being pumped into the replacement vessel Yemen (formerly Nautica) in a ship-to-ship transfer that is expected to take 19 days to complete. After its arrival at the site on 30 May, the leading marine salvage company SMIT, a subsidiary of Boskalis, has stabilized the 47-year-old Safer. The UN Development Programme (UNDP), which contracted SMIT, is implementing the operation to remove the oil.

Mr Gressly has led UN system-wide efforts on the Safer since September 2021.

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